Lifting mechanism



' April 29, 1941. i J, J, MIZER LIFTING MECHANISM Filed May 3, 1940 9 M,ATTO EY INVENTOR I-TaJe/I; J Milan Patented Apr. 29, 1941 LIFTINGMECHANISM Joseph J. Miner, Racine, Wis; assign'or to WalkerManufacturing Company of Wisconsin, Racine, Wis., a corporation ofWisconsin Application May a, 1940, Serial No. 333,183

3 Claims. (SI. 254-433) The present invention relates to vehicle liftingmechanisms, and in particular is directed to improvements upon thearrangements described and claimed in applicant's cop'endingapplications, Serial Nos. 329,357, 329,359, and 333,457, filed April 12,1940, April 12, 1940,- and May 6, 1940, respectively, and assigned tothe same asslgnee as the present application.

The above identified cop'ending applications disclose and claim certainaspects of lifting structures comprising a head provided with a liftinglug adapted to engage a pro;ecting part of a Vehicle wheel, a column forsupporting the head, and means to elevate the head-relative to the base.In the arrangements specifically disclosed in said copendingapplications, the lifting lug is applied directly to a permanent andfixed part of the wheel structure, specifically either the vehicle rimor the outwardly presenting recess which defines the hub of the wheel.

In accordance with the present invention, it is proposed to improve theholding relation between the wheel and the liftinglug by interposing anadapter therebetween, which adapter is readily applied applicable to andremovable from the hub structure upon the removal of the usual hub cap,and which adapter is also preformed to adapt it for holding relation tothe lifting lug otthe jack. The relation is also one in which theadapter isso formed as to have two bearing points relative to the jack,so that the load transmitted between the adapter and the jack firmlyholds the adapter in place relative to the wheel.

With the above as well as other considerations in view, which appear inthe following description supporting base I may be formed as metalstamping, having a pocket l5 depressed from the upper surface thereof soas to receive the lower end of the column iii. The pocket i5 ispreferably generally rectangular in form and so prevents substantialrotation of the column I!) therein. but at the same time the fit betweenthese parts is loose enough to permit a certain amount of tiltingmovement of the column either toward or away from the wheel or forwardlyand rearwardly of the vehicle.

The lifting head 16 is illustrated as formed of metal stampings, and isprovided, as will be understood. with usual operating mechanism,responsive to the handle 18, so that by operating the handle up anddown, the head It may be caused to move upwardly or downwardly along thecolumn II. The direction of the movement of the head is, of course,controlled by the usual adjustmg lever 20, and as is usual, the head I6is nonrotatlve relative to the column.

'rfie lifting head It is provided with a lifting lug 22, ofthe formdisclosed and claimed in applic'ants above-identified copendingapplication Serial N0, 333,457. Briefly, this lifting lug 22 is and inthe appended claims, an illustrative embodiment of the invention isshown in the accompanying drawing throughout the several views of whichcorresponding reference characters are used to designate correspondingparts and in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a vehicle formed from a metalstrap having the outer face 2 vthereof rounded, as viewed in the planeof the paper. The lug '22 is of substantial width, and if desired, itmay be rounded, as viewed in Figure 3, in accordance with the disclosureof the justmentioned copending application. Such rounding is notnecessary, however, in the practice of the present invention and in thepresent instance, the lug 22 is illustrated as being linear, as viewedin Figure 3.

The adapter 23 is illustrated as being formed of a casting or the like,and as having a relatively heavy upper body portion provided with arecess 22 of a width suflicient to freely receive the lug 22 and theupper marginal surface 30 whereof is rounded to form a pocket to receivethe rounded face of the lug 22. The lower body portion of the adapter,"is formed to define an opening between the two leg portions 32 and 34,which opening is large enough to accommodate the wheel spindle 38. Thelower ends of the legs 32 and 34 are connected by an outwardlyprojecting portion 31, which, as shown, bears directly against the lowerbody portion of the lifting head IS. The upper marginal edge 38 of theadapter 26 is rounded to conform to the radius of curvature of theadjacent hub recess 40 associated with the vehicle wheel 42 and thisupper portion or the adapter 2l is also provided with a recess 44 toaccommodate the usual spring element, such as 18, provided on a vehiclewheel to hold the hub cap (not shown) in place. It is to be understoodthat the recess 44 is preferably somewhat wider than the spring elementll.

It will be appreciated that the head normally 5 remains assembled on thecolumn, but that these two elements are normally detached from theadapter and from the jack base. Assuming it is esired to use the presentlifting device, removal of the wheel hub cap permits the adapter to beslipped over the spindle and loosely held with the rounded upper surfaceenga in the 00 D- erating part of the hub recess. Thereafter, the columnmay be seated in the base of the jack and the base positionedimmediately adjacent the base of the tire in the relation shown in Fig.2, following which the lifting head may be' elevated sufficiently tobring the lifting lug into engaging relation with the cooperatingadapter recess 3|.

When so positioned, the jack becomes effective to freely permitted bythe tiltable connection between the base and the column.

As the Jack head is elevated, following the above described initialpositioning of the parts, the lug 22 causes the adapter surface I! tosolidly bear against the hub surface ll and apply a lifting force to thewheel. The lifting force thus applied to the wheel through the adaptertends to rock the adapter in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed inFig. 2, about the surface 38 as a center. because the adapter portion 31bears against the face of the lifting head. The Jack, therefore, notonly applies a lifting force to the adapter, and consequently to thewheel, but also servesto adidly hold the adapter in place relative tothe hub.

Although only a single, specific embodiment of the invention has beendescribed in detail, it will be appreciated that various modificationsin the form, number and arrangement of the parts may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a load carrying vehicle Any such rotation is,however, prevented 40 wheel having a tire and having in the outer faceof the wheel a recess which is substantially concentric with the wheeland the marginal surface whereof extends outwardly toward theouter faceof the wheel, a detached adapter formed to operatively engage under saidmarginal surface, and

a detached jack having a base adapted to rest upon the road surface, acolumn extending upwardly from and supported by the-base and a head onthe column formed to operatlvely engage said adapter so as to apply alifting force to said wheel through said adapter, said Jack having meansassociated therewith to positively hold said adapter in engagingrelation to said marginal surface during said lifting action.

2. Lifting mechanism for a vehicle wheel, said wheel having in the outerface thereof a recess which is substantially concentric with the wheeland the marginal surface whereof extends outwardly toward the outer faceof the wheel, comprising a detached adapter having a first part formedto operatively engage under said marginal surface and a second partadapted for engagement by a jack, and a detached jack comprising a baseadapted to rest upon a supporting surface, a column carried by the baseand extending upwardly therefrom, and a head carried by the column, saidhead having a part formed to operatively engage under said secondadapter part so as to apply a lifting force to said wheel through saidadapter, and said head having means associated therewith to apply aforce to said adapter to hold said adapter in place relative to saidrecess.

3. Lifting mechanism for a vehicle wheel, said wheel having in the outerface thereof a recess which is substantially concentric with the wheeland the marginal surface whereof extends outwardly toward the outer faceof the wheel, comprising a detached adapter having first, second andthird spaced loading parts, said second loading part being positionedbetween said first and third parts, said-first part being formed tooperatively engage under said marginal surface, and a detached Jackhaving a head formed to operatively engage under said second part so asto apply lifting force to said wheel through said adapter, and said headhaving a portion adapted to bear against said third part during thelifting action so as to prevent said adapter from becoming unseated fromsaid recess.

JOSEPH J. MIZER.

